Flowers on a Grave
by S. Snowflake
Summary: What if Seymour had gotten in the way when the Audrey II was about to eat Audrey I for dinner? An alternate universe story about how one change of fate can alter a life in painful and powerful ways, from Audrey's point of view. Rated T for character death and the average amount of language for a story with Twoey in it.
1. My Love

_Author's Note/Disclaimer: This idea came out of my imagining about alternate endings and time lines for Little Shop of Horrors. This fascination comes with the fact that there are four (and possibly five when the new movie comes out in a couple years), alternate time lines that go along with the different versions. So, here's my idea of what would have happened if Seymour had come into the shop just a few seconds earlier that night when Audrey II killed Audrey. Lastly, for the 18th time, I DO NOT own any of these characters. This is purely fan fiction, not for profit, not anything mine. Viola, I'm done._

_*S. Snowflake._

* * *

_**Flowers on a Grave  
**_

**Part One: My Love**

I try to think back on things now and then, but it hurts so much to remember. I guess I can give it my best shot while I'm here in the living room after watching Lucy reruns too many times to count. The TV show that used to make me smile only makes me bored these days. It makes me think about before. It makes me think about _him_…

* * *

It all started that one night when I came after I came to the shop, hearing the voices in my head. I heard someone singing in a deep voice that called me. Who I met was Seymour's giant plant. It was speaking to me, asking for a drink of water. If only I had stopped it…

"Ooh, relax, doll. It'll be easier," the giant flytrap said and smiled at me with all those teeth as it drew me close with those vines, making me drop the water can and scream in fear. "Come join your dentist friend and Mushnik! They're right insiiide…"

Its greenish red mouth opened up wide and I knew that I was going to be dinner. There was no way out. I closed my eyes and cried, waiting for the end, but then I heard a sound and felt movement in the plant's leaves.

"Audrey, no!" Seymour's sweet voice cried out after the doorbells jingled. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, his glasses jittering on his nose in fear when he saw me in trouble. "Get offa' her! Get offa' her!"

I watched him rush into the vines before it all turned green. Then I felt a shove from out of nowhere and I fell to the floor with a thud. What I saw there was horrible. There was the plant with my little Seymour stuck in its mouth, chewing on him like he was a pork chop.

My heart thudded in my chest and I felt it breaking. I screamed, "Seymour!"

I could have sat there, waiting for the monster to eat him, but another braver instinct came in. I stood up and charged at the plant, head on, and slammed against its nose. It cried, "Ow!" like a wino after someone bumps into him and I pulled Seymour out of its mouth. I fought through the vines as best as I could, even with Seymour dragging me down, and managed to get to the backdoor. I scrambled and opened it, and we both fell out with our faces flat on the ground.

Slowly, I stood up, but Seymour didn't.

"Seymour? Seymour? Are you okay?" I asked him and nudged his shoulder. "Can ya' get up?"

He turned his head and looked at me. "I-I think…I'll try." He put his arms out in front of him, though I could tell that they were weak. Then he winced and I crawled over to catch him before he fell. I held onto him tight and he mouthed, "I tried."

I nodded a little and smiled at him. He smiled back, but I could see the pain in his eyes. "You're gonna be fine. I'm here."

He shook his head.

I wanted to cry then and held back my tears. "It's not true. You're losin' it. I'm here. Nothin' will happen to you now."

He took a breath; it was weak though. "-Too late, Audrey. Too late."

"Shh!" I muttered and hugged him. "It's okay, Seymour. You'll be okay."

He coughed and shook in my arms. It broke my heart to watch him. "Audrey, I need you to do something for me," he finally muttered.

"Oh, Seymour, anything!"

He coughed again; something must've been wrong with his lungs. The teeth marks and spots of blood on his chest were enough to tell me that. "That plant…"

I waited for him to say something, but he took another breath. "-Yes?" I asked when I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Mushnik and…Orin. I-I fed them to it."

I couldn't help myself, I cried a bit when he said that. He had lied to me, and I couldn't take it.

"I know. I know, I'm bad Audrey. But please…listen t' me," he interrupted.

I nodded again and watched the color in his face fade.

"Kill it. Don't let it live, Audrey," he gasped and shook his head. "It'll try t-to trick you, but don't let it. Don't let it, Audrey."

"Shh, I won't," I said with a soft voice. It scared me to hear him repeating like that. I hugged him closer then, trying not to hurt him. I felt like I'd break him if I did.

"A-Audrey?" he asked, slow.

"Shh, don't talk."

"You're gonna be okay, Audrey. You'll have what you always wanted," he said with a smile. "I can tell. 'Member that house you told me about? You're gonna get it, Audrey. Everything'll be fine."

Hearing him talk hurt so much. "Seymour, that doesn't matta' anymore to me."

He smiled at me again. "But it does to me. You'll be happy. I'm happy."

I held his hand in mine and cried a little more. There was something building inside, and I had to let it out. I sang the song we had sung together,

"_Nobody ever treated me kindly,_

_Daddy left early, Mama was poor._

_I'd meet a man and I'd follow him blindly,_

_He'd snap his fingers_

_Me, I'd say sure."_

He smiled at me a last time and we sang together,

"_With sweet understanding_

_Seymour's your…man."_

I stopped and realized that I had sung the last word alone. Seymour was lying still in my arms. I looked at his face, calm with the eyes closed like he was asleep. He was smiling in a dream, but he would never wake up.

The tears blurred in my eyes and I couldn't see anymore. I sucked in the air I needed slowly and bellowed, "Seymour!"

He was my everything. My truest friend, my one and only, my love; and now he was gone.


	2. Evil Offers

_Author's Note: Happy Little Shop Day, folks! It's (quote), "the twenty-third day of the month of September!" I hope you're all enjoying this story as much as I am. Expect a new update before the end of the week, since I've finished the offline version already!_

_*S. Snowflake_

* * *

_**Flowers on a Grave**_

**Part Two: Evil Offers**

I didn't sleep that night. It was all a blur to me. I didn't want to believe that Seymour was dead, and I almost couldn't believe it. I didn't know what to do anymore.

I reported Seymour's death to the police. No one would believe my story about that plant, so I told them that I believed it was some kind of rabid Skid Row animal that had killed him. They might have done some kind of tests if anyone was interested in his cause of death, but Seymour had no family. I paid for his funeral with my money and his. I'm not sure if anyone (officers, funeral consultants), knew that we were lovers, but I'd always hold that in my heart. He was buried in that cemetery Downtown, with a little marked grave with a picture of a big rose carved into it. It was all that I could get that was close to him; my rose.

The shop would have to stay open at least for a little while, I knew that, and now with everyone gone, I had to be in charge with that-that _monster_ around.

There was more to my problems though. I was sure that people would be grieving the famous botanist Seymour Krelborn. But when I finally got the sense to go back to that shop and open it, explaining the horrible news, people only rushed for the Audrey II. It made me sick. They only cared about the plant. Well, actually, _I_ became the center of attention now that Seymour was gone. Salesmen and reporters were always asking for interviews and business deals and fortunes could be made with just one bargain.

"Sweetheart, pretty little faces doing gardening sessions just might be what this network needs," said the man named Burnstein trying to get me on a weekly TV show on NBC. "You're beautiful enough for TV for sure. Don't you want outta this dump?"

I told him I'd think about it.

"Well, sweetiepie," said the fat, man-like Mrs. Luce. "It's a terrible loss with that Seymour fellow, I'm sure." She pretended to cry and I rolled my eyes, I could see through it. "-But at least there's light at the end of the tunnel. On our next issue of Life: the tragic death of one botanical genius and the _rise_ of his assistant. How does that sound to you?" She smiled at me with all those ugly teeth, practically throwing money at me.

I told her I had another appointment for that interview.

Then there was the last one. Skip Snip. He wasn't as flattering as the other two, but he offered some opportunity. "Think of it, honey. You say you never finished even high school, but this can be your educational opportunity! You tour around the country, teaching about that plant, and you're talking your ticket to money and finishing up your life's work. Isn't that what you want?"

For that one, I told him to come back another day.

All of the offers would have seemed like goldmines for most people, but not for me. I knew what they meant now. More Audrey II, more killing! It had to end, and soon, I knew that much.

* * *

One night, about a week after Seymour's death, I was closing up the shop as usual, when it happened. The monster finally talked to me.

"Hello, little lady," it said with an almost sweet voice.

I didn't answer.

"What's the matter, not talkin' honey? You talked to Seymour all the time."

I couldn't handle that reply. "Don't you eva' say anything about Seymour!"

"Ooh-hoo, feisty! What's the matter, doll? What you got against us green folks?"

I scowled at the evil plant. "I dunno, maybe trying to eat me and killing Seymour would have somethin' to do with it?"

It smiled a plant smile and wrapped a vine around my shoulder. "Why, _that_, baby? Nah, I'd never hurt a pretty little thing like you."

I slapped the vine off. "You won't be trickin' me again anytime soon, and besides, you _did_ kill Seymour."

"An accident," it said. "Only an accident, doll."

I glared at the plant. "I'll figure out something. I'll get rid a' you."

"But why? Didn't you hear those offers? Don't you see all the people givin' you attention 'cause a' me?"

"That-that doesn't matta'. I-I don't want attention," I stuttered weakly.

"But _think_ about it. You've always wanted to get outta here. All you have to do is take care a' me." It pulled me close with the vines again. "-Just one little plant."

I stared into the big, greenish mouth of the plant with all those yellow teeth smiling at me. It was like a black hole, sucking me down into the evil. It was hard to keep away, but I knew I had to.

I wriggled away from the monster and ran out the back door of the shop. All I said was, "Never."


	3. Your Mistake

**_Flowers on a Grave_**

**Part Three: Your Mistake**

It was late at night two weeks later. I was managing papers in the shop, the routine, that way the monster wouldn't suspect.

That plant could whine! It squealed like a pig whenever it was hungry…which was all the time.

"Come on, doll, _feeeeed me_," it said. "I haven't eaten in a month! I'm gonna diiiiie."

I scowled. "That's not true. I gave you steaks for the past two weeks."

It frowned. "As if beef does me any favors."

I held up my hand, covered in bandages. Yes, it had come to that. "You know you're lyin'. Do you see these here? This is what you've been eating for two weeks!"

The plant growled. "I'm still hungry…"

I sighed. "You won't have to wait much longa'."

It perked up its big, yellow-green pod. "Really, you found someone?"

The thought made me shudder. I wasn't a murderer, but I had already thought of how to get the monster food in case I had to take much longer. The funeral department on the west side of town was always a good place to find some stiff…

Anyway, it hadn't come to murder yet. I had a plan.

"Let's just say you'll never go hungry again," I said.

"Hmm," it purred and rested its pod on the floor. It was quiet for a few minutes before the plant opened its mouth again and yelled, "FEED ME! FEED ME!"

I grabbed the record book on the table and slammed it down. "Oh, shut up! Just shut up, why don't you? Just shut up!`"

That was when I rememered that Seymour had been saying the exact same thing that night he died. He was screaming at the plant before I came in when it was pouring rain and asked him if he was all right…

* * *

_I walked over to him. "Seymour, what's the matta' with you?"_

_"__**It's**__ the matter with me, Audrey. Don't you think I know it needs food? Don't you think I know it'll die if I don't feed it? Don't you think I'm trying to think of some way…something…__**someone**__…"_

It didn't make sense to me then, so I tried to set him straight. "I think running this place all by yourself is too much."

_We talked a little, it calmed him down. Then he turned away, hiding in his sweet way. "Audrey…could I ask you something?"_

"Anything," I said.

_"Just…suppose there'd never __**been**__ an Audrey Two. That I was just a nothin' again, a nobody. Would you still…like me?"_

_I smiled at him, and felt like giving him a big kiss. I really should have, I know that now. What I'd said was, "I'd still __**love**__ you, Seymour."_

* * *

I held my face in my hands just thinking of him, crying a few tears. It was like part of my heart was ripped out when Seymour died, and I felt the pain deep in my chest. It made me sick enough to think I was going to die.

It had to end. One way or another, it had to end…

* * *

I held the match and the box close to my face, staring. I sighed, listening to the plant's deep snoring before turning around to give the shop a last look. The backdoor was partially open, ready for my exit, and everything was set into place. I knew that Seymour's ancient plant books and papers would burn quickly, so I put them all over the floor. Other than that, everything seemed like the past. The clock still ticked in the back, the lovely flowers sat behind Audrey II, the counter and the register was in the middle of the floor. If I hadn't known better, I probably would have called for Seymour from his room, but I restrained and finally struck the match.

With one quick toss at Audrey II, the little flame landed right where I wanted it to: inside the pot. I waited for the fire to burn…and almost smiled when a spark lit up on the vase and started to spread.

The plant woke up by the time a small fire had started. It sniffed. "Mm! Somethin's cooking…oh, shit! It's me!" It said and turned its pod rapidly, fanning the fire on the floor, as if it could see me. "You…"

I struck another match and let it hit the floor, setting one book, and then another book, and then another all on fire. The flames began to burst after a few seconds from the old pages, burning the evil plant even more.

I turned around and ran out the door. The last thing I heard was a yell of, "You're mistake, doll!" before the plant shrieked as it burned alive.

I watched the fire from my apartment down the street that night. The fire department wasn't called until some passing wino got scared, and then they set out the fire at last. I waited until after they were gone, then snuck in through the back door and looked around with my flashlight.

I had won. All that was left of the plant was a great, black husk.


	4. Flowers on a Grave

_Author's Note: This is the epilogue to the story. It really doesn't provide much other than a conclusion_,_ but I felt that it was necessary._ _Thanks to everyone that read this!_

_*S. Snowflake

* * *

_

_**Flowers on a Grave**_

**Part Four: Flowers on a Grave**

No one ever found out that I was the one to set the shop on fire. People thought that the shop was bound to go, since it was so old. When the plant died, all the salespeople went away too. I was a little blonde nobody again. I felt so alone at first, but the girls Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronnette helped me through it. They were my truest friends, and eventually I told them my story. They believe every word to this day.

I never went back to working at The Gutter. I wised up, got a job waitressing, and went back to school for a while. It helped me forget my past, but not all of it. Eventually I met another man named Fredrick and ended up getting married. We bought a perfect little house in the suburbs, just like I used to dream about. We've got a perfect little car, perfect little rooms, a perfect little lawn, perfect little dog, perfect little family; every perfect little thing that you could wish for, but it doesn't make things better really. Fredrick is a good man. I'll always love him for helping me get up on my feet again and giving me a new life and family to call my own, but it's just not the same as when I was in love with Seymour. It never was, never will be. I'm glad he knows that.

Well, Lucy just ended. Some B-movie is on next about killer clowns from outer space; maybe I'll watch it…or maybe not. In fact, I think I'll turn the TV off early today.

Who knows where my story can lead me from here? I wouldn't mind going back to the city for just a visit. Maybe there I'll finally let go of the past. I'll visit the old flower shop. I'll go see my friends again.

…And I think I'll put flowers on Seymour's grave.

**The End**


End file.
